


your wild heart

by closingdoors



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, F/M, Ficlet, Pepper Potts as Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 11:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18850579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closingdoors/pseuds/closingdoors
Summary: A missing scene during the big battle in Endgame. Tony finds a moment to greet Rescue!Pepper.





	your wild heart

Tony grunts as he hits the ground. The suit takes another impact and he rolls, lifting his hands to shoot back, but then the alien before him slumps to the ground, a hole in the middle of his chest.

Thanos' army continues to swarm on the heroes fighting, but for a moment all of that becomes distant. The alien falls and Pepper is stood in its place, holding her armoured hand out to Tony. He takes it, letting her lift him to stand, and their helmets melt away simultaneously.

Pepper grins. "Got you again." 

"Like I said, I got you first," he replies. "What the hell are you doing here?" 

"Why give me a suit if I'm not going to use it?" 

"You wouldn't even try it on at home." 

"Morgan already has one Iron parent. She doesn't need us both to be part-metal."

"Speaking of which, where is she?" 

She rolls her eyes. "Safe with my mom. I didn't bring her  _here_." 

"Right. Good. Makes sense." 

Although, that brings forth questions about building Morgan a suit, too. Not that she'll need it if -  _when_ \- they beat Thanos. No, there'll be peace after that. A time to rest. She'll get to grow up strong without armour; fearless without metal in ways he never could be.

Tony lets his eyes sweep over Pepper. He's dreamed about making her a suit for years. Decades, maybe. However long ago it was that the Malibu house was blown to smithereens and he sent the suit to her. Perhaps even before that. And, God, she looks even better than he'd thought she would. He'd had no idea how cathartic it would be to see an arc reactor glowing on her chest, a modernised version of the very first one he'd created, the one she'd had engraved.

"My eyes are up here, you know." 

"You look amazing. I love you," he tells her, and she smiles softly. "Promise me you'll wear this around the house sometime." 

"Promise me you'll come home and I will." 

Quill flies past them with two enemies hot on his tail. Without blinking, the lasers from Pepper's suit rise and spin, shooting after them. The aliens drop to the ground and Quill glances over his shoulder to give them both a salute. 

"That was so hot." 

"And unfortunately necessary," she replies, searching his face. "Can we beat him, Tony? Is Morgan going to be okay?"

"Always. I won't let him erase her," he replies in a growl. Her suit gauntlets retract and cup his cheeks. He lets his suit fold back and places his own palms over them. "We'll beat him. You and me. It's always you and me. Right?"

Pepper nods, resolute. "Always." 

He draws her close to kiss her. A thrill shoots through him when their suits press against one another. Pepper smiles against his lips, like she knows, and of  _course_ she does, she knows everything about him. 

The kid passes them, swinging from web to web attached to the ship looming above them. "Way to go, Mr Stark!"

Pepper pulls away with a laugh. Tony holds onto her for a moment longer, taking in the sight of her smiling in that suit. Finally, something joyful to come out of his obsession. 

The suit gauntlets appear on her hands again. She glances away, onto the battlefield, and he knows that they can't take any more time out of it. They've already had a lucky five years together, when others had missed out on that. He'll fight like hell for more time with her, with Morgan. His family. His second chance.

God, he wishes he could go back. He wishes he could have just one more day with his wife and his daughter, filled with laughter and love, without Thanos' curse hanging over him. What he wouldn't do to go back and treasure those days with them without guilt.

"Stay safe," he tells her.

"You too," she responds, her eyes so  _sad_ for a moment that he wants to apologise for the possibility of death, "because I want an upgrade on this suit."

"We'll get through this and I'll give you a thousand suits."

He can't see her, but he can imagine her smile, and it's enough.

"What do you call this one, by the way? Iron Woman?"

"No," he returns softly. "Rescue."

She hesitates for a moment. Her hands twitch at her sides as if they're going to reach for him again. But then the ground shakes as one of the giant creatures Thanos had brought along is killed.

Pepper's jets switch on. "Well," she says, "time to live up to the name." 

He stays still for a moment, watching her fly away, a streak of purple-blue and silver against the violence. 

She already lived up to that name to him years ago.


End file.
